2019 Road America - Pirelli GT4 America

2019 was the thirtieth consecutive year for the World Challenge series. In the offseason, the Grand Touring Sport category was renamed, Pirelli GT4 America. The new title did a better job of describing this category as the cars were prepared to the FIA GT4 rulebook. Due to the popularity of this class, series officials offered are two regional championships for SprintX competitors – East and West.

As a result of the announcements, there are four different event schedules:

Sprint Schedule – The calendar starts with races at St. Petersburg, Florida in March followed by Long Beach, California. Teams return to the east coast where they will compete at Virginia International Raceway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Then they travel to California for races at Sonoma Raceway. On the Labour Day weekend, drivers will compete at Watkins Glen International. The penultimate rounds are at Road America with the season concluding at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.
SprintX Schedule – This season starts at Circuit of the Americas and then shares weekends with the Sprint group at Virginia International Raceway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Sonoma Raceway. The division remains on the west coast for an event at Portland International Raceway. The SprintX teams then rejoin the Sprint category for the final three weekends - Watkins Glen International, Road America and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
GT4 West Schedule – This schedule kicks-off at Circuit of the Americas. Then teams travel to the west coast with race weekends at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway, Portland International and Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the finale.
GT4 East Schedule – The eastern division also debuts at Circuit of the Americas. This weekend is followed by Virginia International Raceway, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Watkins Glen with the season-ending at Road America.

Cars competing in the Pirelli GT4 America category are similar to those the Blancpain GT World Challenge America class but have more preparation restrictions and are governed by FIA GT4 rules. The vehicles can be powered by forced induction or normally aspirated motors. Examples of cars competing in this category include: Chevrolet Camaro GT4, McLaren 570S GT4, Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR, Porsche 718 Cayman CS-MR, Audi R8 LMS GT4, Ginetta G55 GT4, BMW M4 GT4 Mercedes-AMG GT4, Panoz Avezzano GT4 and SIN R1 GT4.

Road America was the penultimate race weekend for Pirelli GT4 SprintX National teams and the final event for their counterparts competing in the Eastern division. Drivers would race for sixty-minutes around the fourteen-turn 4.048-mile road course.

The start of race one for the GT4 America – SprintX division at Road America. Leading the field of sixteen competitors into corner three is the pole-sitter, Kris Wilson in the Auto Technic Racing BMW M4 GT4. Behind Wilson is the RENNtech Motorsports prepared Mercedes-AMG GT4 shared by Guy Cosmo and Patrick Byrne. Trailing Byrne is the Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 and the Ian Lacy Racing Ford Mustang GT4.

The Murillo Racing duo of Matthew Fassnacht and Christian Szymczak delivered some great results this weekend. The pair were competing in the SprintX East Amateur division sharing the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT4. In Saturday’s contest, they started fourth and not only won their category but finished first overall. The following day, they captured another class victory but more importantly the duo wrapped up the SprintX East Amateur title.

Preston Calvert and Matt Keegan are competing in the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX National division for Amateur drivers. Entering Road America, they led the standings - the duo only failed to score points in one race (Sonoma) but have six victories. Piloting the No. 51 Panoz Avezzano GT, the Calvert and Keegan swept Saturday and Sunday’s contests giving them a forty-point margin over Auto Technic Racing heading into the finale.

Karl Wittmer entered the final weekend with a two-point lead in Pro/Am East. Trailing Wittmer were Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman. An accident on Saturday ended their title hopes. However, a second-place finish for Classic BMW’s, Stevan McAleer and Justin Raphael put Wittmer’s championship hopes in jeopardy. In race two, Wittmer and his co-driver, Drew Staveley finished ahead of the Classic BMW for the title.

The No. 77 Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR was shared by Alan Brynjolfsson and Trent Hindman. They had a chance of securing the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Pro/Am East title in the final weekend. Unfortunately, their championship hopes were dashed when they were eliminated from the weekend’s first race on lap-3. The pair returned Sunday with a back-up car. Starting from the rear of the grid, they finished first overall.

Sunday’s Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Amateur East podium at Road America. In the center are the winners from Murillo Racing, Matthew Fassnacht and Christian Szymczak. They also captured the class championship. Standing on the left side of the rostrum are the runner-ups, Derek Deboer and Sean Gibbons who drove the TRG Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR. Completing the podium are Thomas Collingwood and John Teece.

Guy Cosmo teamed up with Patrick Byrne to drive the RENNtech Motorsports prepared Mercedes-AMG GT4. The pair were on form all weekend with Byrne recording the fastest time in the final practice session. Competing in the Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Pro/Am East division, they started second overall in race one and earned the class victory. On Sunday, the pair started on the pole and finished second in their group.

Contact on the opening lap of the Saturday’s contest damaged No. 47 Porsche 718 CS MR, shared by Matt Travis and Jason Hart. Competing in the National Pro/Am division, the pair were able to continue and finished third in their group. But the team’s troubles weren’t over. The following day, they were gridded tenth but an electrical issue at the start dropped them to the rear of the field. They rebounded and captured the class win.

Pro/Am National competitors, Gregory Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan entered Road America leading the title chase by just one-marker. Their competition is the NOLASPORT Porsche piloted by Matt Travis and Jason Hart. Misfortune for Travis and Hart on Saturday allowed the pair to increase the gap. But the following day, the NOLASPORT team rebounded. At the end of the event, Liefooghe and Quinlan left with a four-point lead.

Sunday’s Pirelli GT4 America SprintX Pro/Am National podium at Road America. In the center, are the winners from NOLASPORT, Matt Travis and Jason Hart. The pair endured some issues this weekend. To their left is the runner-up, Sean Quinlan. His driving partner, Gregory Liefooghe was not available for the ceremonies as he was competing in the next event. Completing the rostrum are Toby Grahovec and Chris Ohmacht.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVERS	ENTRANT / CAR	LAPS
1	GT4 East - Am/Am	Fassnacht / Szymczak	Murillo Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT4	19
2	GT4 East - Pro/Am	Byrne / Cosmo	RENNtech Motorsports / Mercedes-AMG GT4	19
3	GT4 - Pro/Am	Liefooghe / Quinlan	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	19
4	GT4 - Pro/Am	Udell / Bell	GMG Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	19
5	GT4 East - Pro/Am	McAleer / Raphael	Classic BMW / BMW M4 GT4	19
6	GT4 - Pro/Am	Travis / Hart	NOLASPORT / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	19
7	GT4 East - Pro/Am	Staveley / Wittmer	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	19
8	GT4 - Pro/Am	Ohmacht / Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M4 GT4	19
9	GT4 East - Am/Am	Collingwood / Tecce	BGB Motorsports Group / Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR	19
10	GT4 - Am/Am	Calvert / Keegan	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT4	19
11	GT4 East - Am/Am	DeBoer / Gibbons	TRG- The Racers Group / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	19
12	GT4 - Am/Am	Allen / Wilson	Auto Technic Racing / BMW M4 GT4	18
NC	GT4 - Pro/Am	Andretti / Donahue	Andretti Autosport / McLaren 570S GT4	3
NC	GT4 East - Pro/Am	Brynjolfsson / Hindman	Park Place Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	3
NC	GT4 East - AM/Am	Palmer / Palmer	Kelly-Moss/Photon Motorsports / Audi R8 LMS GT4	0
NC	GT4 - Pro/Am	Dinan / Foley	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	0

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVERS	ENTRANT / CAR	LAPS
1	GT4 East - Pro/Am	Brynjolfsson / Hindman	Park Place Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	18
2	GT4 East - Am/Am	Fassnacht / Szymczak	Murillo Racing / Mercedes-AMG GT4	18
3	GT4 East - Pro/Am	Byrne / Cosmo	RENNtech Motorsports / Mercedes-AMG GT4	18
4	GT4 - Pro/Am	Travis / Hart	NOLASPORT / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	18
5	GT4 - Pro/Am	Liefooghe / Quinlan	Stephen Cameron Racing / BMW M4 GT4	18
6	GT4 East - Pro/Am	Staveley / Wittmer	Ian Lacy Racing / Ford Mustang GT4	18
7	GT4 East - Pro/Am	McAleer / Raphael	Classic BMW / BMW M4 GT4	18
8	GT4 - Pro/Am	Ohmacht / Grahovec	Classic BMW / BMW M4 GT4	18
9	GT4 - Pro/Am	Udell / Bell	GMG Racing / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	18
10	GT4 - Pro/Am	Dinan / Foley	Flying Lizard Motorsports / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	18
11	GT4 - Am/Am	Calvert / Keegan	Team Panoz Racing / Panoz Avezzano GT4	18
12	GT4 East - Am/Am	DeBoer / Gibbons	TRG- The Racers Group / Porsche 718 Cayman CS MR	18
13	GT4 East - Am/Am	Collingwood / Tecce	BGB Motorsports Group / Porsche Cayman GT4 CS-MR	18
14	GT4 - Am/Am	Allen / Wilson	Auto Technic Racing / BMW M4 GT4	17
15	GT4 East - AM/Am	Palmer / Palmer	Kelly-Moss/Photon Motorsports / Audi R8 LMS GT4	17

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